Obama to Russia: No, invading Iraq isn’t the same as annexing Crimea

posted at 7:21 pm on March 26, 2014 by Allahpundit

A welcome bit from a surprisingly strong speech in Brussels today warning Europeans not to look the other way at fascist expansionism aimed at the neighborhood’s lesser powers. Casual indifference to Ukraine, he said in an uncharacteristically good line, “would ignore the lessons that are written in the cemeteries of this continent.” As for the Iraq bit, I wonder if that was really aimed at Russia or at hardline anti-war critics in the west whose eagerness to score points on the U.S. and/or shill for Russian irredentism (“whataboutism”) leads them to seize on Iraq as a tu quoque. O could have played this two ways, by agreeing that Iraq and Crimea are malignant misadventures and emphasizing that he opposed both of them or by defending his country’s war while overseas despite his opposition to it. The first route would have been classic “above the fray” Obama, the second route more statesmanlike. He chose route two. And if you think this point doesn’t need to be made, go read the new statement from the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. “Noninterventionism” is a very nuanced concept in some whataboutist quarters.

Ironically, O’s strong foreign policy moment came on a day of even more gruesome polling than usual. For starters, CNN:

Asked whether Obama can “manage the government effectively”, nearly six in 10 (57 percent) say that statement didn’t apply to the president. Compare that to where Obama stood just before he was inaugurated when 76 percent of respondents in a December 2008 CNN/ORC poll said he was an effective manager, and you see just how far he has fallen. Not only that but in the most recent CNN/ORC poll, Obama’s standing on the “effective manager” question was the lowest he scored on any of the 11 characteristic questions asked in the survey.

Over at the AP, his job approval’s down to 41/59 and his favorable rating, which traditionally is a bit higher as a measure of personal popularity, is in the toilet:

And the coup de grace comes from CBS. Precisely because O did oppose the Iraq war, his presidency was supposed to herald a return to U.S. respectability in the world. Now:

Despite his call today for the U.S. and EU to stand together against Russia aggression, just 35 percent of Americans in Pew’s latest say it’s more important for America to take a firm stand against Putin than it is to not get too involved in the situation. Fifty-two percent say the opposite. Kiev’s all yours, Vladimir!

Everyone has observed “mature military and political planning” from the day it started. Understanding that adds a dimension to understanding Putin’s actions. The military has mature plans to establish the perfect southern border for greater Russia. They have been begging him to let them off the leash. Putin gave them their head in Crimea, and they delivered a bloodless victory in days. How can Russia go to war with Ukraine if Ukraine doesn’t have the ability to even feed, much less deploy, its soldiers? The last Ukrainian orders to the Crimean troops were “Stand your ground, but don’t shoot.” It is semantically impossible to define that sort of interaction as a war.

There is literally nobody there to stop Putin from duplicating the Crimean independence vote over and over again as needed. Putin will present the only organized party in the election. He will win them all. Russia will provide structure for its own, even though Ukraine is unfortunately a failed state.

And the best part is that this process of absorption is not only allowed by all the applicable UN national self-determination charters, it is encouraged. Putin is using self-determination justly deriving from free elections to correct national borders. “What about free-port access to Odessa, Russian industrial investments in Ukraine, what about lines of communication to all involved? Can Kiev be left out of Russia? Mother Russia would be well served by taking those things while the taking is good. If not Putin, who? If not now, when?” That is what men in uniforms are saying to Putin every day. “It will work, I tell you, it will work.”

The strategy of local self-determination referendums is legally bullet-proof and UN Charter on human rights endorsed. Putin would love to reshape the borders on southern Russia. Some blame Obama/EU meddling in Ukrainian politics for giving him this chance. I predict he will reset the border within a year or two, and receive a Peace Prize for the treaty (Yalta II) that consolidates the Russian gains…which he may have to share with Obama.

History – at least in the Common Core – will duly record that Obama is the only president to receive two Nobel Peace prizes.

As for the Iraq bit, I wonder if that was really aimed at Russia or at hardline anti-war critics in the west whose eagerness to score points on the U.S. and/or shill for Russian irredentism
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Putin already had what he wanted from Crimea – warm water ports and an acquiescent lessee. Now, he owns it, warts and all. Flexing his nationalistic muscles may or may not, work out. Depends on where he goes from here. To get the whole ring, he has to take Eastern Ukraine to make the whole thing worth his expenditure of treasure and the World’s ‘good will’. O’s putting the pressure on the EU to ‘step up’, but, to what? For whut it’s worth, the US, traditionally has fought for the freedom of others, not hegemony over others (since WWI, anyway, pretty much, kinda sorta). That’s my story and ahm stickin’ to it. O’s beginning to feel the need to establish some kinda legacy. Scary thought…

Barky to America about Afghanistan: We’ve got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops that we are not just air raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there.

Then, after sliming into office, Barky refused the troop surge that his own strategic review advised … so that we could still get along “just air-raiding villages [the ol’ Hah-vahd Enlgish skills, here] and killing civilians”.

How long is it going to take before this despicable, treasonous POS is wearing an orange jumpsuit? Really.

Since the effeminate GUTLESS WONDER isn’t going to contribute anything constructive to the problem (like kicking Russia out of the IMF and opening up energy production so we can supply Europe ourselves) couldn’t he just SHUT THE FKJH UP?

I would have answered with a stern voice that “Invading Crimea is very similar as to when Iraq, invaded Kuwait…..”

mouell on March 26, 2014 at 7:54 PM

Yes, but that would have defeated Obama’s purpose of opening his YAPPER because he’s pissed the Russians are laughing at him and mocking him OPENLY without saying something that actually demonstrated strength and resolve.

I suspect the National Guard/militia will fight, but what about the regulars?

sharrukin on March 26, 2014 at 7:50 PM

The Russians treated the Ukrainian military very well during the takeover of Crimea. The ones who wanted to join the Russians could do so. The ones who wanted to return to Ukraine were allowed to do so with their families. This act could help others Ukrainian military members choose to surrender rather than fight.

The Ukrainian military equipment is old soviet equipment and not well maintained. After the collapse of the soviets, much of the Ukrainian military equipment was sold on the black market by the mafia. Remember the partially completed aircraft carrier that they sold to China from Sevastopol?

Or bombing Libya without declaring war OR getting approval from Congress?

ConstantineXI on March 26, 2014 at 7:57 PM

But Barky had approval from his strongest allies, the cheese-eating, surrender monkey French, so it’s all good. That was America-hating, back-stabber professional courtesy on that retarded operation. Personally, I loved how they determined that SUVs with machine guns on the ground somehow violated the laughable no-fly zone. That was a pretty neat trick.

We actually won EVERY war we’ve fought since World War II (including Vietnam) until Democrats took over the Presidency or Congress and promptly LOST IT.

ConstantineXI on March 26, 2014 at 8:09 PM

“Indochina is devoid of decisive military objectives and the allocation of more than token US armed forces in Indochina would be a serious diversion of limited US capabilities” (Joint Chiefs of Staff, 26 May 1954).

“The United States could not have prevented the forcible reunification of Vietnam under communist auspices at a morally, materially, and strategically acceptable price.” (The US Army War College Quarterly, Winter 1996-97).

“The [Vietnam] war was only made possible through lies and deceptions aimed at the American public, Congress, and members of Lyndon Johnson’s own administration. Contrary to Robert McNamara’s claims of ignorance and overconfidence during the period 1963-1965, the record proves that he and others were men who not only should have known better, but who did know better. These men and the decisions they made during those crucial months mired the United States in a costly war that could not be won at a cost acceptable to the American public” – H.R. McMaster

Compare that to where Obama stood just before he was inaugurated when 76 percent of respondents in a December 2008 CNN/ORC poll said he was an effective manager, and you see just how far he has fallen.

This, in itself, is absurd.

76%? In December 2008?

BEFORE he even took office?

Well, that explains why he got that Nobel, dontcha know–sheesh. Is the country still this obtuse in 2014? I sure don’t know–it flabbergasted me then as it does now. Good God.

U.S. intel assessement: greater likelihood Russia will enter eastern Ukraine (This is on CNN and cannot link to it)

American officials believe the more than 30,000 Russian forces on the border with Ukraine, combined with additional Russian forces placed on alert and mobilized to move, give Russian President Vladimir Putin the ability to rapidly move into Ukraine without the United States being able to predict it when it happens.

The belief is that Russian forces would move toward three Ukrainian cities: Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk in order to establish land access into Crimea. Russian forces are currently positioned in and around Rostov, Kursk, and Belgorod, according to U.S. intelligence information.

Our intelligence missed the move into Crimea and now they’re telling us in advance that they won’t be able to tell us the next move either. Maybe they should stop spying on us and start spying on them.

The belief is that Russian forces would move toward three Ukrainian cities: Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk in order to establish land access into Crimea. Russian forces are currently positioned in and around Rostov, Kursk, and Belgorod, according to U.S. intelligence information.

Our intelligence missed the move into Crimea and now they’re telling us in advance that they won’t be able to tell us the next move either. Maybe they should stop spying on us and start spying on them.

A welcome bit from a surprisingly strong speech in Brussels today warning Europeans not to look the other way at fascist expansionism aimed at the neighborhood’s lesser powers. Casual indifference to Ukraine, he said in an uncharacteristically good line, “would ignore the lessons that are written in the cemeteries of this continent.”

G’night folks, enjoy your evening–I have zero to say on the Zero any more tonight. I have a difficult time even fathoming how we arrived at this point. (I know, I know: they ‘elected him–twice”.) I’m curious to know who “they” are; I have a hard time believing that over 50% of this country’s legal voters made the same mistake twice.

BTW my people in Sevastopol reported that the electricity is off in parts of Ukraine, but not Sevastopol which has its own source of power.

The banks are functioning and the telephones are working (we were able to call today). The concerns seem to be which currency can be used at the stores. Some are only accepting rubles.

And their are rumors about what the Americans might do in response. They don’t have a lot of news sources yet and are dependent on us to tell them what is going on. We told them that they should not worry about an American invasion of Crimea.

I would think the south east first as well with smaller naval landings at Odessa. Airborne and heliborne troops to sieze bridges and vital roadways.

I imagine we will know within hours if they are taking the whole place because the pattern of airborne/heliborne troops will say a lot.

I would wonder what they are thinking about the nuclear reactors in the west (Rivne) though with the Ukrainians threatening to go nuclear. They could just destroy them the way the Israeli’s did, but that would raise the specter of Chernobyl.

A lot depends on which units are in Bryansk. They were self propelled artillery so it may be purely defensive just as a you say.

Russian officials are weighing a proposal to create a gambl!ng zone with cas!nos and hotels in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed from Ukraine, according to four people with direct knowledge of the planning.

Russian officials are weighing a proposal to create a gambl!ng zone with cas!nos and hotels in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed from Ukraine, according to four people with direct knowledge of the planning.

sharrukin on March 26, 2014 at 9:27 PM

Wow! That would be great. It’s a beautiful resort area anyway. That could turn Crimea into a real prosperous vacation destination. Property values will sky-rocket. Thanks for the tip.

Personally, I loved how they determined that SUVs with machine guns on the ground somehow violated the laughable no-fly zone. That was a pretty neat trick.

ThePrimordialOrderedPair on March 26, 2014 at 8:02 PM

I loved the repeated, emphatic, no-grey-area protestations by American officials that they were NOT seeking regime change and were purely furthering a humanitarian protection mission. That was a complete lie all the way along.